Smoothest Landing…CRRRUUNCH!

Think about it. What kind of retirement job would you want at age 65 with 22,000 flight hours? How about flying tours over the Grand Canyon? A small simple plane with only a few passengers who really want to be there to see one of the greatest wonders God put on Earth. No night or bad weather flying. Passengers aren’t going to sign up to ride when they can’t see anything. Sounds like a

dream job.

“This is awesome. I love my new job.” He says to himself, as he approaches Canyonlands Field Airport. Only one more thing to show them and this 2-hour tour will be done.

He set 10 degrees of flap as he set up for final. ”Ladies and gentlemen, we are almost done, but I’m banking to show you . . .” The script was second nature now. Uh oh. ”. . . Thank you for flying with us and I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour.”

Full flaps set. Wind is calm. Sky is clear. As he flares, he thinks to himself, “This is awesome. I’m getting really good in this little plane after only 40 hours. That’s the smoothest landing . . .” CRRRUUNCH! SSSSCCCCCRRRRRRRRAPE! Imagine that scraping sound going on for 1300 feet down the runway. Must have sounded something like this . . .

In his written statement, the pilot indicated his guide role distracted him from his flying duties and he did not hear the landing gear horn. The NTSB put it this way: